opinions on this knife, please

mikem · Post by **mikem** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:24 am

hi,

new to this forum. lots of good reading for a guy who knows little about these blades.

as a matter of fact, i know next to nothing about them other than i think they are very pleasing to the eye and there is just something immensely "cool" about them.

anyway, has anyone here owned or handled one of these?

if not, can someone offer an objective opinion based on the description alone? (of course, there seems to be just a smidgen of hyperbole in the description).

http://www.uniqueblade.com/products/Sti ... 70-18.html

is teflon a decent blade finish? what are "rubberized abs" handles? what do they feel like?

thanks,

mike

drfish · Post by **drfish** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 1:16 am

In my opinion, black teflon finishes stink. They're on the old side of the spectrum as far as black coatings go. Even the high end teflon Black-T is one brand, scratches very very easily. On the bright side, the higher end coatings still protect the blade from corrosion even after the black has rubbed off.

If you want the blade to *stay* black, then you have a few options.
In my experience:

Black Titanium Nitride (Black-Ti) wears quite well, but it will change color with wear as it thins out a bit, and it's not a deep paint black like the teflon.

Boron Carbide is a killer finish, but it's a different sort of black coating. Almost translucent black with a slight tinge of brown. This coating is so hard that I've found that what I thought was a scratch in it was really just some of the other material rubbed onto the coating, which came off with a little scrub. The downside is that it is so hard that it can chip if really really abused.

Carbon DLC is supposedly better than the BC, but I don't have experience with it.

Molycoat is pretty much a polymer (moly) paint like the teflon coating, just supposedly more durable. Microtech took to satin (2tone) finishing the flats of its OTFs using this coating to keep it off the wear areas, since it would more or less scratch instantly under those circumstances.

Ok.. too much info. Nutshell? Don't expect teflon to be scratch resistant. I have Black-T coated knives I refuse to carry or use because it'll harm the coating.

Post by **whippersnapper** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:28 am

drfish pretty much nailed it. The teflon doesn't seem to stay on very well with any use. A black sharpie has been known to be used for minor touch ups

btw-Does anyone really believe that knife has nickle-silver bolsters?

drfish · Post by **drfish** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:50 am

whippersnapper wrote:btw-Does anyone really believe that knife has nickle-silver bolsters?

Nope.

Xarathos · Post by **Xarathos** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:00 am

The black out look is cool. But it does not stand up to repeated opening or use. It cool look looks crummy really quick. Just my $.02.

ratstuph · Post by **ratstuph** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:46 am

mikem,
Welcome to the forums. If this is your first (or first in a while) auto, why not go for a plain finish blade. You will be clicking it, and generally messing around with it so much that you will surely mar that black blade coating. I also suggest checking out the "good ones" list for a better price.
Enjoy your stay,
rats...

mikem · Post by **mikem** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:06 am

thanks guys.

KnifeFighter · Post by **KnifeFighter** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:53 pm

the black teflon finishes suck no matter who makes them. one of the the reasons alot of us collect these knives is because of astetics ( most of them are only fuctional for one thing). when you put a "black" finish on a blade, as was reviousley mentioned, after you fire it a few times and close it up, its gonna scratch. no way to get around it.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:00 pm

Besides all the other answers above, that particular knife is in the Frank B. "Switch" line. It is a low end knife and acts like it, half of them function, half don't. It is a crapshoot at best, and aggravating to get one in the mail and find this out the hard way. Add a few bucks to it and check out the "Good Ones" list. You are more likely to be satisfied that way.
BTW, Welcome to the forum!

Regards,
Frank

butch · Post by **butch** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:05 pm

heres a link to frank B's switchmodels page these knives come in various scales.

http://www.switchblade.net/switch.htm

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:11 pm

Wow, lucky I read this. I was just about to order a black Boker Magnum...guess not.

Xarathos · Post by **Xarathos** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:24 pm

I own at least one of Frank B.'s switch line. The one that comes to mind is the one with red, white, and blue stars. It's no investment piece but it is well constructed and solid. I have snapped a lot over the two years that I have owned it with out failure. And people like the look of it and like to handle it. I think that the switch line is a good value. And for a collector on a budget the switch line makes for a very nice collection.

texasmad · Post by **texasmad** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:58 pm

I say go with what is pleasing to your eye. Just because a few don’t like it doesn’t make it a bad knife if you like it, the Teflon is the worst in the world about scratching off but there are still a lot of people that like it just for their looks in their collection. If you ever really have your heart set to buy a Teflon at least buy one in a regular classic and you will stand a much better chance of having a knife that will operate for a good while to come. The switch line I thought was nifty at one time because they were so affordable for everyone and they were easy to take apart but when you end up with a 50/50 ratio on working knives the nifty part goes away pretty quick.

ratstuph · Post by **ratstuph** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:59 pm

DaveB wrote:Wow, lucky I read this. I was just about to order a black Boker Magnum...guess not.

The Boker Magnum line is a very good value typically. I just looked at my black one that gets far too little use (it's going back in rotation tomorrow), and noticed the blade is in very good shape. If it ever does get scratched up the Magnums can be taken apart pretty easily and the blade coating removed. Then you'll have a regular steel blade with a black handle--not a bad deal IMO.
adbd,
rats...

Xarathos · Post by **Xarathos** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:33 am

What the rat bastard said is right, sort of, maybe. If you are looking for a high tech high quality auto side opener save your money to buy a Dalton, Piranha, DKD, Benchmade, Micro Tech, Pro Tech, etc. There are very few real bargains out there in auto land. And to date none of them come from Asia. Just my $0.02.